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BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – The New Mexico State baseball team got a total team effort Sunday afternoon defeating Bakersfield 19-7 on a season-high 24 hits at Hardt Field in Bakersfield, Calif. The Aggies are now 18-27 overall and 10-11 in Western Athletic Conference play and CSUB falls to 23-28 on the year and 14-10 in conference action.

The NM State offense got a solid showing from senior first baseman Kristoffer Koerper, who finished the day going 6-of-7 from the dish with two doubles, three singles and a home run to go along with a season-high seven RBI using a wood bat. Koerper’s seven RBI is the most for any Aggie this season. Sophomore shortstop Kent Blackstone was 3-for-3 on the day with two runs scored and sophomore outfielder Joseph Koerper had a 3-of-6 day with a run scored and an RBI.

Starting left-hand pitcher Robert Kraft earned the win and is now 1-3 on the season after working 5.2 innings giving up just one run on five hits.

“It’s good to see us swing the bats pretty well two days in a row and it’s nice to head back home with a win like this one,” said head coach Rocky Ward.

The Aggies jumped on top early, scoring 12 runs in the first three innings with 12 of the first 17 NM State batters reaching base against CSUB starter Austin Davis who took the loss. The big inning the Aggies were looking for came in the top of the third when the NM State offense posted six runs on six hits with two RBI from Koerper, one from catcher Kevin Carswell on a sacrifice fly, one from senior outfielder Michael Paulson and once from designated hitter Kyle Kilgore.

NM State scored another run in the top of the fifth on a Joseph Koerper RBI single up the middle to got up 13-0. The Aggies scored another run on a throwing error in the top of the sixth before the Roadrunners avoided the shutout on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the inning. That CSUB run in the sixth seemed to give it the momentum it needed to stay in the game as it held the Aggies scoreless in the top of the seventh and posted six runs in the bottom of the inning.

Kristoffer Koerper hammered his fifth hit of the day on a home run over the right field fence in the eighth to give the Aggies a 15-7 lead. The Aggies added four more runs on four more hits in the top of the ninth with Kris Koerper picking up two more RBI.

The Aggies wrap up the regular season with a three-game home series against Chicago State, Thursday through Saturday, May 15-17 at Presley Askew Field. All three games are scheduled to air over the radio waves in Las Cruces on KGRT AM 570 with Jeff Matthews giving the play-by-play.